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The Spanish Women’s National Team played their first game against Germany at the Arnold Clark Cup yesterday at Middlesbrough. The game ended in a draw, with both teams scoring one goal each; a fantastic goal 30 seconds into the second half by Alexia Putellas (see below), nullified by a goal in the 87th minute by Lea Schüller. But bear in mind that this is an injury-stricken German team with 13 players out. The Germans are a quality side with lots of squad depth and could put out a good lineup. And perhaps that’s how they were able to come out of this game with a draw.
Lighting up the second half @alexiaputellas 💫
0-1 | #GERESP | #ArnoldClarkCup pic.twitter.com/e7Vsu1GWMc
— Arnold Clark Cup (@ArnoldClarkCup) February 17, 2022
In the times that they’ve met Germany, Spain has never once won a game against them. And perhaps there’s a reason for that. We all know that Spain has one of the best talent pools globally, with most of them playing for FC Barcelona and other top teams worldwide. Despite having top talent in their squad, Spain does not have the best reputation in tournament football. People have high expectations from this team for the 2022 Euros to be played this summer in England, and they have the capabilities to fulfil these expectations as well. But it has seemingly felt like the management has been holding them back from achieving tournament glory.
Let’s talk about the most recent issue that took place yesterday. When coach Jorge Vilda revealed his starting XI for the game against Germany, in blunt words, it was Barcelona playing against the Germans. Nine players from FC Barcelona were in his starting lineup, while Ona Batlle and Amaiur Sarriegi were the only non-Barcelona players. The starters also included freshly recovered from a two-month injury, Mariona Caldentey. Multiple things are going wrong with just the starting lineup.
To begin with, Vilda has a lot of attacking power in his squad, considering he also decided to replace centre-back Irene Paredes (out with injury) with another forward, Sheila Garcia. There was zero need to start Mariona Caldentey when she had only just recovered from a two-month-long injury and had not played a full game with Barcelona. Yet, she was in the starting XI. What could go wrong, right? Mariona was replaced 22 minutes into the game due to hamstring tightness and had to leave camp. Barcelona confirmed that she would be out for ten weeks. Not only that, she got the same injury in the same leg once again. My question, or rather everyone’s at this point, is that was it necessary to call her up for camp in the first place, and even if she was important for the team, was it necessary to start her in the first game?
Vilda’s obsession with relying heavily on certain players can be seen consistently throughout the years, with Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati, and Mariona Caldentey, being high on the list for minutes played. It is clear that certain players have the most minutes while others have less. Whilst I understand those with the most minutes are some of the most talented players on the team, the intense schedule these players have for their clubs need to be considered to avoid overworking players and impacting their performance on the pitch, and also holding back the opportunity for other players to step up and show their true potential. It leads to the question of whether it’s necessary to play the same specific group of players all the time? Starting these players in important games is understandable, but when you have the firepower in younger players, why not give them the minutes during friendlies and rest the starters, or give them the opportunity to step up in the big games? Vilda has rotated players more in the past, but the same can’t be said now.
To understand why Spain is still far off from achieving tournament glory, we must understand a few things. Spain probably has the worst history with coaches. Ignacio Quereda, a name we’ve all heard recently quite a lot because of the release of a documentary in which former national team players have mentioned the toxic environment in camp, homophobia and a lot more. Since then, he was replaced by the current coach Jorge Vilda in 2015, coaching La Roja.
Spanish Football has undoubtedly changed a lot since 2015 and has developed very quickly in the last 2 to 3 years. But what hasn’t changed is how Jorge Vilda has coached this team. You’d imagine that with a talent pool like Spain’s, they would’ve won many titles. A reason, in my understanding, would be his obsession with using the same players repeatedly, being one as mentioned above and two, the fact that he’s unable to read and adapt to the ever-changing Women’s game. If you look at the game played against Germany, you can see how he did not have a game plan. In the first half, the players tried to adapt and play the way they always play. Perhaps that’s why he pushes the same players to play all the time because they know each other and know where the other will be on the pitch with their eyes closed. It’s also one reason hiding Vilda’s incompetence, perhaps because the team has been succeeding and progressing.
📸: Spain vs Germany – Arnold Clark Cup
Another crucial thing Vilda has done over the years is not call up players who deserve to be there. And there are way too many examples for that. You have Ángela Sosa Martín, Carmen Menayo, Athenea, Maitane Lopez and many more. Athenea got called up as a replacement for Mariona after leaving the camp injured. It was another way how Mariona’s injury could’ve been completely avoided, but instead, here we are. Mariona’s injury adds another player to the long list of names to the Barcelona injury list. This injury puts intense pressure on players like Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati, Leila Ouahabi, etc. But how does this affect the National Team, you ask?
Barcelona and Real Madrid have an extensive and exhausting schedule coming up in the lead up to the Euros. Certain positions have no backup players meaning certain players will have to play every game until the injury struck players recover. By the end of the season, the players would be exhausted. And these tired legs would have to show up to the international camp for the Euros. Yes, that’s how one move by Jorge Vilda has affected his players. Tired legs for the Euros once again prevent Spain from attaining tournament success.
So once again, the question comes back to, is Jorge Vilda holding Spain from achieving its true potential? The short, blunt answer is yes. And the more straightforward answer is, Spain cannot win with Jorge Vilda in charge.
Written by Unnati Naidu
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